Clutch-shifting mechanism for circular-knitting machines.



. H. A. HousEMAN. I f CLUTCH SHIFTING MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION fl IULY 20| I'QIE.

Y Patented 11111. 23, 1917.

' ssnenssnfem Y v l |3 f 22' M -u ,5' 1 ll 24y 5 m i 2f w l y' (Q nl ik" ff, n I I? l* rra/MEM y H.:Ak. HUUSEMAN. 1 CLUTCH SHIFTING'MRCHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES. APPUCAHON FLED JULY 20,19I6.

1,213,199, j Y Patented J':n.i`23,1917. y l Hens-sainz.

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' H.'A. HousEMAN.

MECHMHSU FUR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

cLurcH sHmNG Y APPLICATION. FILED )ULY 20 916. y

Patented' Jan. 23, 1917.

1 any y )mA/e( 47m/men STATES PATENT OFFIGE. HARRY A. HOUSEMANJOF imLAmaLPHTA,4 rNNsYLvANIA., AissIGNon', STANDABL i MACHINE coMrANY, or PHILADELPH/IA, PENNSYLVANIA, `Av coBroaATIoN or PENNSYLVANIA. f

CLUTCHQSHIFTIKG MECHANISM FOB- CIBCULAR-KNITTING INQACHINIEQS.`

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. HoUsEMAm a citizen of. the United States, residing at Philadel hia, county of Philadelphia, and State of em1sy1vania,have invented a new and usefulv Improvement in. Clutch-Shift.

ing Mechanism for Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and vexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification.

The object of 'my invention is to prowlde new and better mechanism for shifting from rotation to oscillation and vice versa-in lthe l5 operation of an ordinary circular knitting machine. Several means are in use for effecting this shift. Thus, it is commonl to gear the needle cylinder to a shaft 'on whlch tur loosely the rotaryfand oscillatory gear between which is a clutch feathered on the shaft. The clutch is provided with keys which are adaptedto engage `recesvsesin the respective gears. Owing to the :fact that the needle cylinder turns much more rapidly when rotating than at its maximum speed when oscillating, the two gears are necessarily traveling at substantially different rates of speed when the shift is made. Hence, althcmgh the keys and the recesses engaged thereby are tapered to permitof the'shift heilig made, the shift must'be made with great rapidity. This not only causes a severe jar to the ,machina but to throw the clutch with sufiicient quickness, a. steep actuating cum must be used, which requires considerable power to operate and imposes a severe strain upon the machine. v

In equivalent constructions, the keys are placed on the gears and the engaging re- 40 ces s -in the clutch; or `the clutch is fixed on the shaft andthe gears are shifted. These constructions are,open tothe same objections as those above fnoted.v A

Briefly, the objects of my invention are to allow the shift, to be made through the l medium of a cam having aA gentle slope, l to minimize the shock or jar to the machine, and to avoid the use of beveled or tapered keys and recesses. A preferred embodiment of my invention is shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which Fignre l is a ction plan view of the machine on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2. Fig.

speniation of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan; 2e, 19,17.

Application mea my 2o, une. serial No. noaa?.

2" is aside elevation of the machine, partly 55 -broken away. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2." Fig. 4 is a partial plan sectional view, similar to Fig.A 1, but with parts omitted for clearness. Fig. 5 is an' elevation., partly in section, of the 60 clutch shifting mechanism. Fig. 6 is a cross section through the clutch shaft, clutch keys and intermediatesleeve.l Fig. 7 is a front View of the cams for effecting the shift of the shoe on the clutch shifting lever. Fi 8 is a perspective view of one ofthe clutc keys. Figs.' 9. and lOare diagrams `illusv trating, respectively, the shift of theclutch from rotation to oscillation and from oscillation to rotation.

The frame .a of the machine carries the bed plate b for the needle cylinder, cam ring and appurtenant mechanism.l `The needle cylinder. c has secured to its lower end the,driven gear d resting directly upon a -ring within the bed b. Gear d is driven through idler' e from gear i f on clutch shaft g, on whichare .loosel sleeved two pinions m and n, one of whic constantly rotates while the'other constantly 80 oscillates. Between these pinions is a sleeve j .tixedv'on the shaft. This sleeve has two longitudinal recesses inV which slide clutch keys le adapted to engagerecesses h and z' in the pinions m and n.' These keys and re- 85 cesses will be hereinafter more particulaly described. For present purposes it is' s u f cient to state that by movin the clutch keys up, they are engaged wit the rotary pinion m, thereby causing the shaft g and the needle cylinder c to rotate; and by mov- 'ing the clutch keys down, they are engaged with the oscillatory pinion n, thus causing the shaft g and the needle cylinder c to osci'llate. r 95 l The means for constantly rotating the pinion m and constantly oscillating the -pinion i are the same as that set 'forth in an application filed by me September 22," y

1915, Serial No. 51,939, andV will now be briefly described. i Pinion m. is driven byva spur gear q turning on a vertical shaft r and having attached to it a bevel gear s which is driven by a bevel piniont` on driving shaft u. 105

Pinion n is driven by ,the following means: To the lower end of shaft, 1' is se cured a crank 'u connected by a link w with an arm of a quadrant m, which is mounted upon a post y and constantly engages pinf ion n.

eral projections Z22 which engage rod 12 vertically slidable in upper and lower i5/cam 27; but when the pattern mechanism rso bearings 13 ou'the machine frame a.. Hub 11 is provided with lugs 14, in which are threaded adjusting screws 15, between the opposing lieads of which is confined one end of a lever 16. The other end of lever 16is pivotally mounted on a bracket 17 secured to the machine frame.

Mounted on the lower `extension of the bed plate b, and concentrically beneath the needle cylinder, is the sleeve 18 provided with the flange-19. Secured to the periph- `ery of this {iange are cams 20 (to be hereinafter more particularly described), form,

ing acam path engaging a shoe 21 on lever 16. When shoe 21 is under the upper cams, sleeve 11 andclutch keys It are lowered and shaft g and needle cylinder c are oscillated. When shoe 21 is over the lower cams, sleeve 11 and clutch keys k are raised and the shaft g and needle cylinder c arerotated.

Sleeve 18 carries a disk 22 withi ratchetl teeth on its outer circumference. Engaging these teeth isV a spring-pressed pawl 23 mounted on a slide 24, one end of which is ivotally connected with a lever 25. This ever is mounted on a vertical airis between its endsandpcarries a roller 26 engaging a cam 27 secured to the under side of the constantly rotating gear g. A spring 28 tends to hold the rollerconstantly against the cam.

Pattern mechanism (notv1 herein shown, but set forth in detail in my vprior appllication hereinbefore mentioned) normally olds the slide 24 in its forward position to prevent roller 26 from'being acted upon hay .releases kslide 24, it is first retracted by sprin 28 and then advanced by cam 27, t ere y causing pawl 23 to turn disk 22 a distance of one tooth.

y At predetermined fractional turris of disk 22, andwithit sleeve 18 and flange 19, one or the other of the cams 20 acts upon shoe 21 to effect the clutch shifting operation hereinbefore described.

Having now described the needle cylinder actuatin and clutch shifting mechanism, 'I shall, with more particularity, describe the way in which the clutch keys engage the rotary and oscillatory pinions and shall also explain how such operation of the clutchn ke s is effected by the cams 20 and shoe 21.

he diagram of Fig. 9 shows five different transition keys lo in its s ift out of engagement with the rotary pinion and into engagement' with ositions of one of the clutch the oscillatory pinion. The arrows indicate the direction of movement of the driving pinions at the time of shift.

n position 1, the key is -in engagement with lthe rear wall of the recess h 1n rotary pinion/m. The key is just starting to shift. lt will be noticed that the recess i in oscillatory pinion 'ny is slightly in advance of recess k and is therefore not quite in alinement with the key. lVhen, however, the lower end of the key has moved downward just below the upper .face of the pinion n, as shown in position 2, the pinion fm., which moves thev faster, has carried the recess h slightly in 'advance of recess i. Although the width of the key lc and recess i are substantiallythe same, tlie key is free to enter sit, of the shoe 21 corresponding respectively to the several positions 1 to 9'inclusive of the key and pinions in Figs. 9 and 10. It will be noted, on Fig. 7, that the upper cam 2() is not provided with a continuous cani face, but with two successive cam faces 30 and 32 connected byv a horizontal face 31. Therefore, the shoe 20 is not moved down steadily, but is .moved down part Way V(positions 1', 2 and3), and then stops until the lower face 32 of the cam has caught up to and engaged it (position 4'). Positions 3 and 4 of the shoe are,` of course, identical, the cams being the crcumferentially movable elements and not the shoe; the shoe being shown in Fig. 7 as the movable element for convenience in illustration. Hence it will be understood why, in Fig. 9, the key is shown as stationary between positions .3 and 4, while the pinions are shown as havfeet the shift from oscillation to' rotation, is

accomplished by a single camface 33 on the lower cam 20, as shown in Fig. 7 The num ber of positions of the shoe key and pinions are, in this figure and bilig-10, shown as this movement.

four. It will be understood that the number of transition periods shown is somewhat arbitrary, although, in fact, the number shown is best adapted to illustrate the actual operation.

In position 6, the key has just started to shift. The oscillatory pinion n is considerably in advance of the rotary inion m.

In position 7 the pinion m has ]ust about caught up to the pinion 'a and 'the upper end of the key is just ready to enter the reces It. Immediately after this position is reac ed, the key, While continuing to ymove up, is actuated by the pinion m and therefore recedes from the rear wall of the'recess z' of the more slowly turning pinion n; the cut-away portion 7c of the key permitting Seel-fig. 8. In position 9, the key has moved up to its' farthest extent and the lower endof the key has completely cleared the recess 'L'.

The front YwaIl ofthe reces'sV/t is shown as out away at h2 This is not strictly necessary, but is advantageous in that it permits some latitude of adjustment. On the other hand, the recess 71, need not be provided with any front wall, inasmuch as the pinion m always turns in the same direction.

"From the foregoing description it will be clear that the shift between rotation and oscillation may be effected by cams of gentle slope and without `strain or jar upon the machine.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect-by Letters Patent is '1. In` a clutch shifting -mechanism, the combination with a driven shaft, of a rotary member and an oscillatory member each provided withaa recess, means to rotate the rotary member aty a higher speed than the maximum speed of the oscillatory member, a .clutch key turning with the shaft, means for moving, the key vout of engagement with, the recess of one member and into engagement with the recess of the other member, said key having frontfand rear parallel walls adapted to fit within similar parallel Walls in the loscillatory member, the

lower portion of the front wall of the key being cut away to permit the key to enter the recess in the oscillatory pinion while I still being driven by the rotary gear.

2.- In clutch 'shifting mechanism, the combination with a driven sha-ft, of a rotary member and an oscillatory member each provided with a recess, means to rotate the rotary member at a higher speed than the i a cam and means to turn the same, a member adapted to be actuated by the cam, and

connections "between said member and the clutch key for shifting the key, said cam, having an interrupted. cam face adapted to determine the shift from rotation to oscil` lation, whereby the movement of .the clutch key, when'passing from the rotary member to the oscillatory member, Will be temporarily arrested to allow the recess in the oscillatory pinion to move into a position directly opposite the clutch key to permit the shift ofthe key to be completed.

3. In a. clutch shifting mechanism, the combination with a driven shaft, of a rotary mem ber and an oscillatory member each provided with a recess, means to rotate the rotary member at a higher speed than the maximum speed of the oscillatory member; a` clutch key turning with the shaft, means for moving the key out of engagement with the recess of one member and into engagement with the recess of the other member, said key having front and rear parallel walls adapted to fit within similar parallel walls in the oscillatory member, the lower portion of l'thev front wall of the key being cut away to per- `mit the key to enter the recess in the oscillatory pinion while still being driven by the rotary gear, a caml and means to turn the same, a member adapted to be actuated by the cam, and connections' between said member and the clutch key for shifting they key, said cam having an interrupted cam face adapted to determine the` shift from rota-tion to oscillation, whereby the move- Y ment of the clutch key, when passing from 100 the rotary member to the oscillatory 1nem` ber, will be temporarily arrested, after 'the key has been disengaged 'from the rotary, member and has partly entered the recess in the oscillatory pinion., to allow the'last named recess to catch up to the key and ,permit the latter to complete its movement. 1l. In a clutch shifting mechanism, the combination with. a driven'shaft, of a rotary member and an oscillatory member loose onV the shaft, a clutch key turning with the shaft and adapted to slide along the shaft out `of engagement with one-member and into engagement with the other member, a nonrotary ring in which .the said key is feath- 115 rio `ered to permit it to turn with the shaft,

a device carrying the ring and adapted to move it along the shaft, a clutch shifting lever for moving said device, a cam, and a shoe on the lever adapted to be actuated by the camu i 5. In a clutch shifting mechanism, the combination with a driven shaft, of a rotary member and an oscillatory member loose on the shaft,4 a clutch between saidill' members-and movable into driving enga e-*f ment With either, a device' alongside t shaft movable in the direction thereof and connected with thefclutch so as to shift the same, projections on said device, screws in `13'0 other thereof, said clutch and the oscillatory ymember being provided oneJ with a key and thel other with a recess, said key and recess each having-v arallel Walls. and the key having a relatively/neat fit in the recess, one of the two'lastv named elements being cut away to permit relative.- forward move ment of the key and recess during the partial linsertion of the key in the recess while the clutch is still being driven "by the rotary member.

' f7. In a clutch shifting vmechanismpithe `combination with a driven shaft, of a rotary i"'pflember and an oscillatory member, means ,to rota-te the rotarymember at. a higher speed than the maximum speed of the oscil- .latory member,ja clutch turning. withthe shaftgmeans to shift the clutch relatively to i -said members, to engage it with one or. the

sli.

l.other thereof, said clutch and the oscillatory lmember vbeing provided one wf' th a key and Ithe other with a recess, said key and' recess each having parallel walls and the key having a relatively neat fit in the recess, one of the two last named elements being cut away to permit relative forward movement of the key and recess during the partial insertion of the key in the recess while the clutch is still being driven by the rotary member, clutch actuating means, and a cam for actuating said means shaped to cause a'J dwell in the shift of the clutch to permit the partially inserted key and said recess to be brought intovalinement after the clutch has 'been disengaged from the rotary member.

8` ln, a clutch shifting mechanism, the combination with a driven shaft. of a rotary member and anI oscillatory member, rrfeans to rotate the rotary member at a, higher speed than the maximum speed of the oscillatory Imember, a clutch turning with the shaft, means to shift the clutch relatively to said members, to engage it with one or the other thereof, said clutch and the oscilla- Vtor-y member being provided one with a. key and the` other with a recess, clutch actuating means, and a cam for actuating said means shaped to cause a dwell in the shift of the clutch after the clutch has begun, and before it-has, completed, its shift, to permit the key and said recess to be brought into alinement 'a'fter the clutch-has been` disengaged from' the rotary member.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto lset my hand, atiPhiladelphia, on this 18th day of July` 1916.'

HARRY A. HOUSEMAN. 

